Russ introduced Vann Rucker, who has been elected by the Division of
Extended Learning and Human Services to serve until the end of this academic
year in place of Karen Winston.

1.Minutes
from Feb. 27, 2002

The minutes were approved as distributed.

2.Academic
Policies

Pam asked Senators to review the proposed
changes to the Faculty Handbook that she distributed earlier via
email. The Academic Policies Committee was charged to make grammatical
changes
to the Handbook and proposes, for example, that "chairperson" always
be written with a lower case "c" and that acronyms be
used in a systematic way to eliminate unnecessary repetition of
phrases.

Pam described how the Academic Policies
Committee has formed subcommittees to examine the Handbook page-by-page.
All recommended changes are then reviewed by the full Committee
and must also be approved by Faculty Senate. One major difficulty has
been that
the terms, "instructor" and "faculty," do not
seem to be used in a consistent way throughout the Handbook. The
Committee will
not recommend changes to those terms until the Assembly has acted
on the question of Assembly membership.

Ken asked about a proposed change that seemed
to delete references to equal opportunity requirements. Pam explained that
references of that sort are being removed from the individual job descriptions,
and included instead as a single statement that applies to all positions.
There is no change in the actual requirements.

Cindy moved to approve the purely grammatical
changes that have been submitted, and Roxann seconded. The motion passed
unanimously.

Cindy moved to approve the revised email
policy, and Roxann seconded the motion.

Russ said he had noticed a few minor changes
that he thought were needed. Ellen and Cindy asked for clarification about
the range of activities covered by the statement (Section I. D. 3) prohibiting
use of electronic mail services for personal monetary gain. Russ agreed
that the statement is somewhat vague, but noted that the procedure for
a faculty member to obtain pre-approval (for example, for a project to
author a textbook using email as a tool for collaboration) probably prevents
it from being a problem.

Frank raised broader questions about how
Senate approval of the email policy might be linked with Senate recommendations
on other related topics, such as intellectual property. Ken expressed concern
that the provisions allowing College access to faculty electronic mailboxes
(particularly Section I. K. 2. c.) may be too broad, and could be abused.

Russ agreed to share Frank and Ken's concerns
with the Provost and Ken Moore. Cindy withdrew her motion to approve the
email policy, pending their response. Pam emphasized the importance of
having strong faculty backing when Senate takes action.

4.Opinion
Poll

Russ asked about the possibility of expanding
the upcoming Senate Opinion Poll to include additional questions related
to FITs and about possible faculty responses if the FITs team has difficulty
achieving agreement. Ellen expressed concern about the methodology of mixing
such different issues in a single Opinion Poll. Frank and Forrest described
an alternative model in which the Engineering Division has used open meetings
to collect information about faculty opinions. Forrest suggested that the
effort to collect information related to FITs and to get faculty more involved
should be done at a time other than the upcoming poll. The Senate concurred.

Cindy described the logistical arrangements
for the opinion poll to be conduced March 13 and 14, including location,
refreshments and signs. She passed around sample fliers describing the
poll, and invited input about their design and content. She agreed to complete
the fliers based on the discussion that followed, and to send Senators
a master copy for distribution to all full-time faculty in their divisions.

Russ distributed a draft information sheet
about the issues addressed in the opinion poll, for dissemination to faculty
prior to the poll. Incorporating input from the Senate, he agreed to revise
the sheet in accordance with Senate's suggestions and distribute it to
faculty. (The revised information sheet is
attached here.)

Senate discussed the details of the process
for the opinion poll and agreed that each faculty member will receive an
opinion sheet after they have signed a master roster. No proxies are to
be used. Faculty will be permitted to cast their opinion in private and
free from undue pressure to cast an opinion for a certain point of view.
The opinion sheets are to be stored in the Faculty Senate office overnight
until they can be counted on Friday morning. The results are to remain
secret until the full body of Faculty Senate can be informed of the outcome
at the March 20th Senate meeting.

Cindy passed around a sign-up sheet to insure
that at least two Senators or Senate officers will be present at all times
while the opinion poll is being conducted.

Susan and Russ emphasized the need for everyone
to describe this consistently as an opinion poll, not a vote. Senators
are responsible for insuring that all full-time faculty are notified about
the poll.

5.Open
Forum

5.1.Pam
informed Senate that the College is now in the process of identifying nominees
for awards by the Ohio Association of Two-Year Colleges to outstanding full-time
and part-time faculty. She encouraged Senators to share information about
this program and also to share information about other recognition received
by Sinclair faculty.

5.2.Forrest
asked about new parking charges using the Tartan Card. Students or faculty
parking in the student lots will now be charged just $0.50 per day if they
use their Tartan Card. There has been no change in the cost for faculty who
park in employee lots and pay a monthly rate.

5.3.Forrest
noted that Norm Grant's wife recently passed away and that Len Smith, faculty
member in Engineering, also passed away. He emphasized the need for Sinclair
to establish an appropriate memorial for faculty.

5.4.Noting
a concern that Senate may not be as visible as it should be, Forrest suggested
that Senators consider visiting Department meetings, including those in divisions
other than their own. Cindy, Ellen, Susan, Pam and others supported the suggestion,
and also agreed that Senators and Officers need to be more active in educating
faculty about Senate and in recruiting faculty to participate as Senators
or Committee members.

5.5.Forrest
suggested that Senate may need to expand its base of knowledge by sending
representatives to meetings of organizations that deal with the work of similar
bodies.